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Firefighters duck gunfire in East Palo Alto

Firefighters returning to their East Palo Alto station ran for cover after two rival gangs engaged in a gun battle in front of their quarters about two weeks ago, Menlo Park Fire Protection District officials confirmed Friday.

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Comments (16)

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Posted by where's Ron
a resident of East Palo Alto
on Dec 14, 2012 at 6:41 pm

What do you mean you couldn't reach Ron Davis?
The same guy who loves talking to the press about how good of a job he has been doing and bragging about his stats and parolee roundups?
Maybe he is busy cleaning up his resume for other PD's.

Posted by EPA-Needs-Cleaning-Up
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Dec 14, 2012 at 6:45 pm

It was only a few weeks ago that the Weekly ran an article about a $300K grant to some Berkeley "institute" to write up how the EAP "Shotspotter" had changed the way the EPA police deal with random acts of gun discharge. So, where is the "ShotSpotter"? Is'nt it doing the job the police seem to claim it's capable of doing? And what happened to the taxpayer's $300K? Another scan, perpetrated by the Berkeley "glitteratti"?

This is no way to live. If it takes bringing in the National Guard and putting EPA under martial law, that would be infinitely better than having firemen ducking bullets!

I lived in E. san Jo during college, and my parked car got caught in the crossfire of gang warfare often enough that the insurance co stopped paying for repair until I moved into a real house with a locking garage. So I know what this is like, and nothing but the military can straighten it out. After a while, the cops get too scared.

Posted by Hmmm
a resident of East Palo Alto
on Dec 14, 2012 at 7:04 pm

Shotspotter & that grant have nothing to do w/gang violence. But then, you know that - you just want to have something to complain about. We're the ones w/something real to complain about & the folks in the east side even moreso & Shotspotter isn't it.

Posted by EPA-Needs-Cleaning-Up
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Dec 14, 2012 at 7:30 pm

> Shotspotter & that grant have nothing
> to do w/gang violence

Oh? Itï¿½s billed as being able to help police locate firearms discharges. Gangs are clearly the main source of weapons discharges in EPA. Get to the location where ï¿½shoot outsï¿½ are going, and just maybe you catch some of the cretins. Over time, you might even put one, or more of these gangs out of action. Thatï¿½s how ï¿½Shotspotterï¿½ could have something to do with gang violence. [Portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]

Posted by Hmmm
a resident of East Palo Alto
on Dec 15, 2012 at 11:42 am

So I'll say it again: ShotSpotter helps residents & the police. It's must easier for them to track gunfire via this system than it is via my phone call w/inexact guesses as to where the bullets are flying. Catching the shooters is something else, & isn't something that ShotSpotter can do - after all, it's not called Dirtbag Dragnet or Killer Catcher.

Posted by The Good Samaritan
a resident of Ventura
on Dec 15, 2012 at 5:00 pm

My African American family has resided in Greater Palo Alto, including East Palo Alto, since the late 1800's. East Palo Alto was originally an Ohlone settlement. It was also a beautiful country farm town. Many East Palo Alto homes have Japanese Shoji panel walls, Italian wine cellars and buried swimming pools. Many long term, educated, hardworking, middle class folks have either died or relocated.

Drug abuse, unemployment and related violence have plagued East Palo Alto, since the early 1960's. East Palo Alto remains infested with a small number extremely violent, well-armed gang bangers, who have no self-respect or appreciation for human life in general.

East Palo Alto is also building several hundred condos, town houses, offices and light industrial space. The City is experiencing another wave of urban gentrification, fueled by, mostly white and Asian, Facebook, Google and other monied Silicon Valley professionals, who are priced out of nearby Palo Alto. Long term East Palo prospects are extremely bright. East Palo Alto is quickly becoming the Emeryville of Silicon Valley. God bless the hard working East Palo Alto citizens and public servants and may lasting peace quickly come your way.

Posted by Blah blah blah
a resident of East Palo Alto
on Dec 16, 2012 at 11:44 pm

1st Shotspotter is garbage.. So what good does it do.. Really? Telling the cops where a gun was discharged.
2nd How about good detective work for a change.. These cops come to a crime seen disrespect everyone are only talking about hot girls they've seen on this particular day and then just b. s. for a few minutes and on they go back to sitting outside of Starbucks.
3rd This so called chief is only here to add another line to his resume.. Nuff said.
4th We need a respectable police force not some youngsters here only long enough waiting for another department to pick them up into their ranks... Or Sgt Norrisis stuck here bitter at their inability to move on. :(
Come on people open your eyes it's this inept police that's the root of all the problems. Someone knows they can get away with these crimes, therefore they committ them.

Posted by S.H.
a resident of another community
on Dec 17, 2012 at 11:38 am

East Palo Alto is not very large. The current police force is ill equipped to handle the new siege that is starting up again. Allowing sleazy criminals and those that have been released from prison back into this community is leading to the demise. It is time to bring in the San Mateo County Sheriffs Dept. as the FULL time law enforcement agency and then get all the outside state and local and federal law agencies to put a parameter around this city and move through the blocks street by street and eradicate the vermon. This recent incident is a reminder of what happened in the early to mid 1990's with all of the daily shootings and firefighters having to wear bullet proof vest when going on calls in this city. I know because I was a firefighter having to wear the vests!!

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